Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Home Office regarding the closure of the immigration office in Govan and whether it was consulted over the closure.

Ms Margaret Curran: The immigration office in Govan has not closed, so there was no need for the Executive to make representations or for it to be consulted. There have been some changes in the way asylum seekers can register claims affecting single adult asylum seekers, but families and people with special needs can still register claims in Glasgow.

Asylum Seekers

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of children under 16 amongst asylum seekers currently resident in Scotland.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive does not hold this information centrally.

Central Heating Programme

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many central heating systems have been installed in private sector properties in the (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) Argyll and Bute local authority area since the commencement of the central heating installation programme.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Information is not kept in the form requested but by postcode area. In the postcode area 292 systems were installed in 2001-02, 473 in 2002-03, and 389 so far in 2003-04.

Central Heating Programme

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by postcode of the number of central heating systems installed in private sector properties in the Dumbarton constituency since the commencement of the central heating installation programme.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The managing agents for the programme in the private sector, Eaga Partnership, collect cumulative statistics on the number of installations by main postcode area. There are no plans to collect statistics by constituency areas.

Higher Education

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has a policy on the position of higher education in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), in light of the statement by the European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture that only one third of European ministries have developed such a policy.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Department for Trade and Industry has lead responsibility on all matters related to the GATS as the regulation of international trade is a reserved area. The Department of Trade and Industry consult with devolved administrations and other stakeholders at UK level for input on matters related to education policy as appropriate. The Executive supports the UK policy line that no commitments should be made under the GATS which would undermine governments’ ability to fund or regulate public sector education services. The European Commission’s initial GATS offer which was submitted to the World Trade Organization on 29 April 2003 fully protects public services and proposes no new commitments in relation to education, which includes higher education, services.

  With regard to privately funded higher education services, the UK has already taken full commitments during the Uruguay round of GATS negotiations in 1993, with the exception of Mode 4 which relates to the temporary movement of natural persons.

Higher Education

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has consulted higher education stakeholders on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), in light of the conclusions of the Bologna follow-up seminar "Exploring the Social Dimensions of the European Higher Education Area" which expressed "the need for transparency in the GATS negotiations and that GATS negotiators should consult closely the higher education stakeholders".

Mr Jim Wallace: The Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) has lead responsibility for all matters related to GATS on behalf of the UK, as the regulation of international trade is a reserved area. Scottish Executive officials arranged an opportunity for representatives from the further and higher education sectors in Scotland to meet with DTI’s leading GATS negotiator in January this year to discuss matters related to education and the GATS. The initial EC offer issued on 29 April 2003 does not propose any new commitments for the education sectors and, as such, further meetings have not been required. DTI are in regular contact with the devolved administrations and other stakeholders on matters related to the GATS. This will continue as appropriate throughout the negotiating process.

Higher Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what lessons it has learned from other higher education systems in Europe as a result of the Bologna process.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive has learnt that Scotland is well advanced in meeting the key principles of the Bologna Declaration. Specifically at the Berlin conference, we learnt that Scotland has a national credit and qualifications framework and a higher education quality assurance system which are at the forefront of European developments in these areas. We will continue to value the opportunity to exchange information and views with counterparts from across Europe.

Higher Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be financial implications for higher education institutions as a result of reforms through the Bologna process.

Mr Jim Wallace: There are no specific financial implications expected for higher education institutions as a result of reforms recommended by the Bologna Declaration. Bologna is an integral process which seeks to enhance educational co-operation and mobility across Europe. Institutions and other stakeholders participate on a voluntary basis.

Higher Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the Bologna process will affect its lifelong learning provision.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Bologna process recognises the importance of higher education for lifelong learning. This is consistent with the Executive’s lifelong strategy "Life Through Learning: Learning Through Life".

Higher Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be financial implications for further education colleges as a result of its participation in the Bologna process.

Mr Jim Wallace: There are no specific financial implications expected for further education colleges as a result of the Scottish Executive’s participation in the Bologna process. Bologna is an integral process which seeks to enhance educational co-operation and mobility across Europe. Institutions and other stakeholders participate on a voluntary basis.

Housing

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2141 by Ms Margaret Curran on 19 September 2003, whether it will combine the figures in tables 1, 2 and 3 into a graph that shows the number of public sector houses sold as a percentage of the total housing stock in each year since 1979, compares sales in Scotland with those in England and Wales and shows what the percentage trend was year on year.

Ms Margaret Curran: The data provided for question S2W-2141 are extracted from published information.

  Estimated number of dwellings in Scotland: Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series) Housing Trends in Scotland: Quarter ended 31 March 1992 (HSG-1992-5, SPICe Bib. number 29613) and Quarter ending 31 March 2003 (HSG-2003-4, SPICe Bib. number 28820).

  Right to buy sales data for Scotland: historical data are available on the Scottish Executive Housing Statistics reference site in the data library section (website address: www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref) and in the Statistical Bulletin (Housing Series) Housing Trends in Scotland: Quarter ending 31 March 2003 (HSG-2003-4, SPICe Bib. number 28820).

  Data for England and Wales are adapted from UK Housing Review 2002-03 (Wilcox, 2002). This is available in the SPICe library (Bib. number 27587).

  Figures for public sector dwelling stock in Scotland are extracted from returns submitted to the Scottish Executive and are published annually in Housing Trends in Scotland. These include dwellings owned by local authorities, Scottish Homes and New Towns (when in existence). The figures for 1979 to 2002 are shown in the following table.

  Public Sector Dwelling Stock in Scotland as at 31 March of Each Year

  

 Year
 Public 
  Sector Dwellings


 1979
 1,024,758


 1980
 1,042,630


 1981
 1,042,396


 1982
 1,030,058


 1983
 1,007,564


 1984
 1,000,182


 1985
 988,337


 1986
 984,621


 1987
 969,725


 1988
 947,778


 1989
 909,393


 1990
 869,373


 1991
 838,004


 1992
 805,921


 1993
 775,849


 1994
 731,791


 1995
 715,689


 1996
 682,914


 1997
 650,935


 1998
 624,108


 1999
 577,632


 2000
 569,854


 2001
 552,815


 2002 
  
 530,631



  Note:

  Figures are for calendar years.

Housing

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve the provision of rural housing in areas such as Clydesdale.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is:

  In the current year £57 million will be invested in rural affordable housing through the Communities Scotland Development Programme: this represents 25% of the total budget. Ministers recently announced that the development programme for rural housing will be increased by £5 million nationally in each of the next two financial years.

  In the Clydesdale area, the Communities Scotland Development Programme is providing funding of £4.152 million in the current year, which will provide a total of 162 affordable housing units.

Housing

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-26489 by Ms Margaret Curran on 20 June 2002, whether it will update the tables for housing approvals and completions to show the out-turn figures for 2002-03, the estimated figures for subsequent years and the completions that were funded, in whole or in part, from the approved development budget for Scottish Homes and Communities Scotland.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Further to the answer to question S1W-26489, the outturn for approvals and completions for 2002-03 and estimated figures for 2003-04 that were funded, in whole or in part, from the approved development budget for Scottish Homes and Communities Scotland are as follows:

  

 Approvals


 Year

 HA
Rent
 HA
LCHO
 GRO
OO
 GRO
Rent
 RHOG
 I 
  & R/
Other
 NHP






 2002-03
 4,043
 76
 475
 93
 64
 8
 1,175


 2003-04
 4,698
 94
 555
 82
 71
 500
 926



  

 Completions


 Year
 HA
Rent
 HA
LCHO
 GRO
OO
 GRO
Rent
 RHOG
 I 
  & R/
Other
 NHP


 




 2002-03
 3,839
 213
 794
 169
 53
 0
 1,082


 2003-04
 3,808
 123
 335
 67
 61
 0
 1,731



  Note:

  The units shown above relate to Scottish Homes- Communities Scotland development programme and the New Housing Partnership Regeneration and Development Programme.

  Key:

  HA Rent - Housing Association Rent - General Needs

  HA LCHO - Housing Association - Low Cost Home Ownership

  GRO OO - Grants for Rent or Ownership - Owner Occupation

  GRO Rent - Grants for Rent or Ownership - Rent

  RHOG - Rural Home Ownership Grant

  I&R - Improvement & Repair Grants

  NHP - New Housing Partnerships

Housing

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its news release on affordable housing in rural Scotland on 7 October 2003, whether the additional funding for Communities Scotland's development programme for housing in rural areas has been allocated only for housing in the Highlands and Islands local authority areas; whether it will identify other local authority areas where approved developers will be permitted to bid for these additional resources, and whether these resources will be ring-fenced for allocation solely to areas within local authorities defined as rural.

Ms Margaret Curran: I have asked Angiolina Foster, acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  The new funding will be available to support affordable housing projects in all rural areas in Scotland suffering acute shortages of affordable housing. The funding will be ring fenced within the Communities Scotland development programme specifically for investment in those areas.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2790 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 October 2003, whether it has made any response to HM Treasury’s Barker review on housing supply identifying differences between the position in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK and what impact any such differences will have.

Ms Margaret Curran: The answer I gave to question S2W-2687 on 30 September 2003 indicated that discussions had been held recently between the Executive and the Barker review team on housing supply at HM Treasury. The review team have now been supplied with a range of information and statistical data on housing in Scotland which has been sent also to the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

  It will be for the review team to make an assessment of the differences between the position in Scotland as compared to the rest of the UK and any impact those differences may have.

Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2500 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 September 2003, what the amount of exceptional additional funding for a joint police station and courthouse at Rosetta Road, Peebles, would have been.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Borders Council requested additional capital consent of £710,600 for a co-located district court, police station and council offices at Rosetta Road, Peebles.

Maternity Services

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of the maternity services review was in each NHS board in respect of (a) designing and carrying out the review and (b) the consultation process, broken down into expenditure categories such as salaries and transport.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Ministerial Correspondence

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Education and Young People will reply to my letter of 22 August 2003 regarding fee waivers for training courses.

Mr Jim Wallace: Your letter to the Minister for Education and Young People was passed to me for response. My reply was issued on 29 September 2003.

Public Transport

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it will give to the re-regulation of buses.

Nicol Stephen: We have no current plans to re-regulate the bus industry.

Public Transport

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made by local authorities in establishing quality partnerships with bus operators under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001.

Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-2584 on 26 September 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Rail Network

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what efforts will be made to include the option of twin tracks for the Borders rail route so that full advantage can be taken within the Borders and Midlothian of the new economic opportunities opened as a result of the route’s reinstatement.

Nicol Stephen: The specification of the railway is a matter for the Waverley Railway Partnership to propose in their business case.

Roads

Mrs Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish an analysis of responses received to its consultation paper Reducing Disruption From Utilities’ Road Works .

Nicol Stephen: A copy of the responses to the consultation paper, Reducing Disruption from Utilities’ Road Works , have been placed in the Scottish Executive Library and in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 29681).

Schools

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has set the annual date for each education authority to publish the report that sets out progress of the authority in meeting objective 25 set out in section 5(6) of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000 and, if so, whether there have been any publications.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive agreed with education authorities that progress reports would be published by the end of January 2003, and thereafter on an annual basis. We have received copies of progress reports from all 32 education authorities.

Schools

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is on facilitating the hire of buses by schools for educational, social or recreational purposes.

Peter Peacock: Schools and education authorities are themselves responsible for the hiring of buses for these purposes. The Scottish Executive has received no specific representations about facilitating such hires.

Schools

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on any increase in costs affecting the hire of buses by schools for educational purposes.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school children travelled to school by (i) dedicated school bus and (ii) public transport in each year since 1997.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many bus journeys have been undertaken by schools for educational, social and recreational purposes in each year since 1997.

Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally.

Scottish Executive Visits

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive in what capacity the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning attended the Berlin Conference of European Ministers in charge of higher education on 18 and 19 September 2003.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning attended the recent European conference as a member of the UK delegation.

Scottish Executive Visits

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning signed the Berlin Communiqué at the Berlin Conference of European Ministers in charge of higher education on 18 and 19 September 2003.

Mr Jim Wallace: The text of the Berlin Communiqué was agreed by all delegations participating in the conference. There was no formal signing process.

Transport

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to alleviate the impact of congestion charges in Edinburgh, when introduced, on commuters from the Borders and Midlothian until the Borders railway is in operation.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive sets out the framework within which a local authority that wishes to implement a road user charging scheme must operate. It is for local authorities to decide whether or not they wish to implement such a scheme.

  A local authority will have to ensure that a range of public transport improvements are in place before charging is introduced, with further improvements to follow.